Practical School Discipline by Ray C Beery

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Title: Practical School Discipline
Introductory Course

Author: Ray Coppock Beery

Release Date: November 17, 2019 [EBook #60717]

Language: English

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PRACTICAL

SCHOOL DISCIPLINE

INTRODUCTORY

COURSE

BY

RAY C. BEERY

A. B. (Columbia), M. A. (Harvard)

PRESIDENT OF

INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF DISCIPLINE

PLEASANT HILL, OHIO, U. S. A.

Copyrighted, 1916, by

RAY C. BEERY

Copyrighted, Great Britain, 1916

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

CONTENTS

PAGE

Preface
v-vii

Introductory Course
9-25

Part I, The Teacher
27-88

Part II, The School
89-101

Part III, Discipline: Its Province and End
103-111

Part IV, Fundamental Principles in Discipline
113-171

Index
172, 173

iii

PREFACE

From the first sting of a blackboard pointer received at the hand of a primary teacher for a slight overflow of energy, to the
last serious fracture of discipline which I recall in High School, I pondered over the methods used by my teachers and
talked with others, frequently, about this matter of discipline.
Very often after observing an extremely annoying day for a teacher, who seemed to think that all trouble was due to the
pupils, I would feel like rising in my seat, half through sympathy and half through disgust, and shouting, “Teacher, it’s all
wrong. We pupils are human. There are ways of appealing to us and getting the results you want, if only you apply the right
methods.”
The solving of various problems of discipline for the purpose of helping teachers to accomplish their tremendous task, has
always appealed to me very much, but it was not until my Senior year in High School that I seriously considered making
the study of discipline my life-work.
It was the result of observing closely every day for four years, the different methods used by two High School instructors
and, most important of all, the consistent results of those methods which convinced me that the subject of discipline could
be analyzed.
The course, which you are starting to read, is the result of long observation, careful study and constant thought in this
important field. The subject has resolved itself into a very few fundamental principles, the proper application of which will
invariably get results in the right direction.
There are no cut and dried rules with which all school-room problems can be met; yet, the wise experience of hundreds of
teachers has taught that there are certain principles which can be safely followed and the application of which will
unfailingly increase the teacher’s success in dealing with troublesome problems.
Not only are the fundamental principles fully explained and made simple, but there are definite concrete school-room
problems given, together with the safest treatment to apply. The problems are real. They have presented themselves many
times and will continue to present themselves as long as schools exist.
Correct methods are given to meet the most perplexing situations as well as the petty though annoying troubles that troop
through each school day. Each method presented has been tested and tried and found to get good results.
The application of the methods presented in this course will also have a lasting effect on the lives of those disciplined. This
is an aim which, indeed, must underlie all true discipline.
The language and phraseology used is that which can be understood by the most humble teacher. In speaking of the
teacher always in the masculine, I have followed the custom of the specialists. “He” will mean usually “he or she.”
In preparing this course, I have constantly kept in mind the thousands of teachers in every quarter of the land—North,
South, East and West—who are laboring in one-room schools where they are moulding the characters of boys and girls
who will be the men and women of tomorrow; men, who will guide the destiny of the state and women to be fit mothers of
a greater race. The teachers whose labors are in the rural hamlets and the larger villages have been remembered; also
those whose tasks are more manifold in the busy city where school-room problems are varied and complex.
This course is prepared to meet an almost universal demand. Teachers, like all other practical human beings, are eager for
concrete information and ideas which they can apply. Any information at all which makes for better discipline is, by the
worthy teacher, considered quite worth while.

R. C. B.

“In schools and colleges, in fleet and army, discipline means success, and anarchy means ruin.”

(Froude.)

v

vi

vii

“One in charge of children can not

know TOO much about them.”

viii

Introductory Course

Teaching school means infinitely more than the mere giving of lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic. It means the
moulding of human lives and characters. The amount of good which a single enlightened teacher may do for humanity can
hardly be over-estimated. Children of all grades look upon their teachers in a certain sense as heroes whom they admire
and emulate. Great, therefore, is the teacher’s responsibility.

Conduct and Discipline

Not only is the teacher a great moral force in the school and community but certain of his traits and habits are so very
closely related to discipline that the first part of the book is devoted exclusively to “The Teacher.”
The teacher should have a very definite code of morals—a code of morals that is in no sense vague or indefinite or weak.
He should not be undecided even about small details relating to the moral code. Children admire strong characters. They
are quick to detect weakness.
This Course presents a code of morals for the teacher which is very concrete. The teacher will consider it most sensible
because every idea is grounded on sound and logical reasons. This part of the Course, in presenting reasons along with the
detailed and definite code of morals should help every teacher who reads it. Even though you are now leading a strong,
influential life, reading this part of the Course will strengthen your convictions and in that way help you to be yet stronger.

School Surroundings and Discipline

It can not be denied that every factor in the child’s surroundings has some influence upon him. It would be difficult to
introduce principles of order and system into a child’s school work, if that child were surrounded by disorder in the
school-room equipment. We all know that the appetizing effect of a luncheon is heightened by cleanliness, the taste with
which the luncheon and the dishes are arranged, even the mode of serving the food and the general appearance of the
room. Comparatively few teachers realize the relation of the school surroundings to discipline. The second part of the book
is devoted to “The School.” This part of the Course discusses various factors in the surroundings which the teacher may
control, and suggests many things about the room equipment which will greatly aid him in securing good work and order.
Every teacher, in dealing with pupils, should have well fixed in his mind the true province and end in discipline. The third
division of this book is devoted to “The Province and End in Discipline,” which is an extremely important discussion. No
idea is less understood than is discipline. In its restricted meaning and application, it means far too little. Discipline
permeates most thoroughly every activity of humankind. Every avenue of progress owes its measure of success to the
measure of discipline found therein. Could discipline come into its own province and manifest its fullest force, there
evidently would be no need of penal institutions, courts of justice and other reformatory measures. Far too many teachers
believe their work in the school-room well done and designate themselves as good disciplinarians if they have managed to
get through the school year without any more serious difficulty than having to administer a whipping or two, or perhaps,
suspend a pupil for a week or ten days. To call this discipline is indeed deplorable.

The True End in Discipline

Some teachers on being asked, “What is the end to be sought in discipline?” have answered, “Good order.” Others have
answered, “Quietness such that lessons may be studied.” But these are mere conditions of successful school work and are
not at all ends to be attained in discipline. The teacher who thinks of these conditions as being the ends in discipline is not
only liable to use improper means, but will be satisfied with a mere semblance of success. The true end of discipline is none
other than the acquirement of self-control. This includes six very definite things which are explained in Part Three.
It is the failure to understand the nature of children, which causes so much friction and trouble with them. By “nature,” we
do not mean merely the child’s disposition, as this view is far too narrow. Let us clearly explain, in the next few
paragraphs, the distinction between individual disposition and fundamental nature.

An Important Distinction

It is true, popular lecturers often bore us by speeches in which they emphasize over and over the necessity of knowing the
disposition of our individual child. Of course, it is helpful to know the individual disposition; but the mistaken emphasis
placed upon this detail as compared with really knowing the general and fundamental nature of children is indeed
astounding.
A case was reported to us not long ago of a child-lecturer who chanced to be confronted with a practical situation. Little
“George,” his son, was near a newspaper in the drawing-room. The gentleman asked George to bring the newspaper to
him. George refused. The command was repeated. “George, bring me the newspaper.” George refused. He again gave
more commands, in a louder tone of voice while George laughed at him. The lecturer then started over to him and George
ran behind a table. The man soon managed to seize the boy’s hand and escorted him over to the newspaper, whereupon
he again commanded him to pick up the paper. George refused. The gentleman took the boy’s hands and tried to force
them to grasp the newspaper but George’s fingers were lax. At this moment, George received a keen slap on the side of
the face. He was then told to pick up the paper and he did so. Why? Merely through fear? (The fallacy of this method will
be discussed later on.)

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The point of the above illustration is this: That man would treat all of ten thousand other children in precisely the same way
as he did George if they refused to obey him. And yet this same lecturer is continually going before mothers’ clubs and
admonishing them thus: “Mothers, mothers—know your individual child.” If his doctrine is so important, why does he not
practice what he preaches? A man or woman, parent or teacher, who can not get a child to obey, without slapping him or
threatening him, has something fundamental to learn about child training. This man not only failed to be influenced by the
boy’s individual disposition but he showed by his method that he did not understand the fundamental nature of children.
To explain further the distinction between individual disposition and fundamental nature, you have in your room five pupils:
Ralph, Charley, Miriam, Fay and Helen. Let us assume that these pupils are as different in disposition as it is possible for
them to be. Ralph is pessimistic, secretive and has a bad temper. Charley is optimistic, frank and very amiable. Miriam and
Fay have certain other opposite characteristics and Helen is in a class by herself—overbearing, spiteful, high tempered and
hard to approach.
Now what shall we do? Must we use a fundamentally different method on each of these pupils in order to reach the same
result? By no means. While these five pupils have characteristics which are distinctly their own and different from each
other, yet they have precisely the same instincts underlying their actions. They have the same individual instincts, the
same adaptive instincts, the same social instincts, the same regulative instincts and the same parental instincts. If we
appeal to the same instinct in one child that we appeal to in another we will get a similar result. The expression will not be
exactly the same, of course. One child may react more quickly than another or with more enthusiasm but nevertheless the
response will be similar. For example, if I do something which Ralph sees is going to push forward his own interests: if I
praise Ralph for something which he has done, he will react in the same direction as will Charley, Miriam, Fay and Helen
when I appeal to the same instinct in them, such as their instinctive desire for approval.
Instead of only five pupils, we might take a hundred or a thousand pupils, each one having a disposition slightly different
from all the others. Their natures are all based upon certain fundamental instincts common to the race. Therefore, it is this
fundamental nature of the pupil which we must know. The disposition of the particular pupils is a matter of detail as
compared with the deep-seated and essential nature and will not trouble us much after we have learned the fundamental
principles of child supervision, because all children have the same natural instincts and, in applying principles, we appeal to
these instincts. Part Four of this book is devoted exclusively to the naming and explaining of these great fundamental
principles.
A teacher who thoroughly understands each of these principles is in possession of information that is really invaluable in
discipline. It would be well for each teacher to read over these important principles several times during the school year.
The reading can not fail to aid in getting better discipline.
The best possible way to acquire skill in discipline is to study a great variety of typical examples. In fact, the author has
planned other volumes devoted exclusively to concrete cases of discipline.
By a concrete case is meant an interruption or annoyance caused by one or more pupils at a given time, which must be
dealt with by the teacher in one way or another.
Very often a teacher, after observing the results of a certain method, will look back and say, “If I had that to do over
again, I would treat the case differently.” Perhaps he has asked a child a question which, on account of the embarrassing
circumstances, caused him to tell a falsehood; perhaps he has tried to force obedience instead of attaining the end in a
better way. These and dozens of other cases might be suggested which often confront a teacher and unless he has correct
ideas about disposing of them when they arise, he will have no small amount of trouble before the year is over. That
teacher is almost sure to fail who waits for the occasion to select a method instead of preparing beforehand for different
emergencies.

Treatment of Cases According to Age

The proper decision in cases of discipline is so extremely important that the cases which may arise in each grade should
be treated separately. For example, all the problems which may present themselves to the first grade teacher may be
recorded under the head “First Grade” and the remedy given for each case. The same is true of the second grade and so
on through the High School. Special and very definite instructions should be framed for the proper discipline of pupils of
various ages in the same room of the country school.
The methods must be safe methods. Some times an unenlightened teacher will use a method which not only fails to get
good results but which actually aggravates the trouble. The very nature of the methods given in this Course is such that a
teacher may be sure the best possible plan is being employed, viewed from the standpoint of positive good results that will
surely follow.
The teacher will find it a great source of pleasure to have the subject of discipline so well in mind and so thoroughly
analyzed and thought out that when a case arises, he can not only apply a method which he thinks is right but one which he
knows is right.
Oftentimes, a teacher is confronted with such a difficult situation that no matter what method is applied, good results will
not be seen immediately. In such cases it is extremely assuring for a teacher to know that the particular method which he
has applied is the best possible method that could be used in that situation.
In the treatment of all cases, not only are the correct methods outlined in detail, but fundamental reasons should be given
showing why the method suggested is the best in each case. In the treatment of all cases, applications are to be made of

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the fundamental principles.
There are not a few teachers, as well as parents, who continue to use physical force in attempting to govern. It is indeed
appalling how blind some people are on matters of discipline.
They will get poor results repeatedly from applying a given method and yet they fail to see that their child’s bad behavior is
due to their own faulty method. Why do not parents think about changing their own method which causes the child to
misbehave instead of forever blaming the child? This is a question that is not easy to answer. Business men, after finding
that a certain form of advertising does not pay, discontinue that form of advertising and yet they are not half so reasonable
in their own homes.
For instance, it is a common occurrence for a parent to flog a child for telling a falsehood. The child continues to tell
falsehoods one day after another and the parent continues to use the punishing method. Seldom, if ever, does the parent
think of changing his method.
Often, when interviewing parents about a child, they will offer some reason for punishing which to them seems perfectly
sound but they ignore the fact that fear of punishment is one of the chief causes of falsifying and that to punish for a known
falsehood today makes the child more secretive tomorrow.
Many persons likewise, base obedience upon fear of punishment. Their children know that when they hear a command,
they must obey at once or receive a whipping. Here is a logical proposition: If obedience is based upon fear instead of
confidence; that is, if the child obeys only through fear, then when fear is gradually removed (at fourteen or fifteen when the
child begins to feel the assurance of manhood) obedience naturally becomes weaker. Many parents wonder what is wrong
when they lose control of their adolescent boys and girls; yet the reason is perfectly obvious. If obedience is based upon
confidence, as it should be, the changes which accompany adolescence will not remove the only basis of obedience, as in
the case of fear, but will make the parents’ grasp even more secure.
Many parents are thoughtful enough to have at least their own reason for using a certain method, while others,
unfortunately, hardly think at all. They have one method which they attempt to use as a cure for all bad traits as well as for
particular misdemeanors. A situation presents itself and because of some pre-conceived notion, the same old remedy is
suggested and administered.
What is true of a great many parents in this regard is also true of a great many teachers. If parents and teachers were to try
some practical tests in discipline, keep a record on paper of the treatment of certain offenses followed immediately by the
obvious results of those methods, and then draw reasonable conclusions at the end of a week or a month, they would have
something valuable to work upon.
Most educators advise the use of corporal punishment as a last resort, yet far too many teachers in carrying out this advice
really use it not only as a last resort but as a first, last and only resort. Here is the situation—in fact, a very common
situation for a teacher who does not have the confidence of his pupils. A boy is told to do or not to do a certain thing. He
openly disobeys. The teacher feels that he must make an example of him and humiliate him at once before the school.
“Let us conclude, then, that the day of corporal punishment as an important agency in school discipline has passed never to
return. And let us also conclude that its passing is not yet complete and can not be complete until social customs and
prejudices have been thoroughly adjusted to the new order and until effective methods of dealing with acute disciplinary
difficulties have been discovered, standardized and made effective by general recognition.”[1]

In this brief Introductory Course, one can not go much into detail on any one point. In regard to punishment, however, this
hint is in place. If anyone is interested enough to really find out for himself and settle in his own mind once for all, questions
concerning correct discipline, let him personally interview a large number of boys. Let him get some of their views. Let him
talk over the matter frankly with some other teacher’s pupils. He will thereby not only enlighten himself as to the best policy
about punishing boys but the experience of talking in a confidential way with big-hearted boys (and they will all seem big-
hearted if only he assumes that they are) will give him a new inspiration and a more optimistic view about his future
discipline in the school-room. He will feel more capable of appealing to the child’s mind and heart and will see less
necessity than ever before for having to force even the most stubborn child to do his bidding.
The author’s own view on punishment is this: the more a teacher knows about child nature and correct fundamental
principles, the less he will need to use corporal punishment. The aim of this Course is to present the teacher with such
concrete information, based upon a correct knowledge of child nature, that its application by the teacher will enable him to
succeed in discipline without any corporal punishment whatsoever.
Of course, there will always be exceptions. A certain pupil may be apparently abnormal and extremely hard to govern. But
even with the proverbial exception, really surprising things can be accomplished by the application of wise methods.
The aim, stated above, is not unreasonable. The author has clear evidence of this. In his own town, the superintendent of
schools went so far as to allow even the pupils to know that he would not punish them with physical pain. He explained
why he would not and the result was wonderful, as he expected. Instead of the pupils taking advantage of such a policy, it
appealed to them. They respected this superintendent. They realized that he was there to help them and they allowed him
to do so.

1. W. C. Bagley, School Discipline, p. 194. Macmillan.

A Real Accomplishment

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A Real Accomplishment

Out of seventy pupils who attended the school at the opening of the term, sixty-seven were in regular attendance
throughout the year and two of the three pupils who did drop out had very good outside reasons. This record is astonishing
but the discipline in that High School is also remarkable. This superintendent has carried out with wonderful results the
principles explained in this Course.

The Common Sense Factor

Some people tell us that teachers are born and not made, that tact is an innate quality. Of course, there is a certain amount
of truth in this. It is needless to say that not all teachers can attain the same high degree of efficiency in controlling a school.
But to say that a certain teacher can never succeed, because he does not have tact, is to express ignorance of the true
nature of tact. Tact can not be entirely separated from knowledge. Tact and common sense increase in direct proportion to
the advance of one’s knowledge.
One employs tact when he says and does the right thing at the right time and place. Tact implies skill in dealing with
immediate circumstances. Therefore, the more experience one has in dealing with a given circumstance the more proficient
he should become. The mind profits by experience. A wise teacher also profits by ideas. If someone relates a case of
discipline to you in which tact was used, you can use the same idea in a similar circumstance and you will also be using
tact.
For example, a certain teacher on entering a new school in the fall, learns that five or six of the larger boys have been
talking on the street about whipping him out, in case he gets “cute.” If this teacher allows his pupils to find out in any way
whatever that his mind is bothered about it; if he gets up before the school and attempts to make a speech calling attention
to the gossip, he will thereby show very little tact and the offending pupils will most surely cause him more trouble.
On the other hand, suppose that, sometime when he is with the boys, without any evidence of anxiety, he incidentally
remarks, “I see no need of trying to correct pupils by whipping them. People have nearly always treated me justly because
I have dealt fairly with them.” This is using tact. The boys will not annoy this man; they will respect him.
So with hundreds of cases. Having each instance worked out in detail, the teacher may determine the minute application of
good methods. In this way he can avoid harmful schemes and employ only tactful plans.
It is the ignorant teacher who is untactful; it is the wise and well-educated teacher who is tactful. By well-educated, here, is
meant educated in proper discipline. A teacher may be a good scholar and yet be poorly trained in controlling a school.
The teacher who is well trained in matters of discipline does not look upon the many so-called puzzling circumstances as
problems at all, because they so readily fit into his system of knowledge that he knows at once how to prevent prospective
difficulties.
There will never be a day in which you will not use the ideas in this Course, consciously or unconsciously, in one way or
another. The ideas presented are fundamental.
There is only one more thought the author wishes to leave with you in this Introductory Course before taking up the
instructions in the regular Course. That is this: a child is influenced more by those teachers whom he likes and admires than
by those whom he dislikes and who antagonize him. Therefore, it is hoped that each teacher will begin the reading of this
Course with a strong conviction and a firm determination to gain from it a means of getting the child’s confidence, which
will enable him to be a power for good in guiding young lives aright.
No teacher has attained the greatest joy in his profession until he has received from boys and girls letters of overflowing
thanks for past helpfulness. And every teacher will realize this joy who conducts his school in a rational way and who
learns methods by means of which he can place discipline upon the natural basis of confidence.
When you have learned the relation of your own conduct to discipline and the relation of your school to discipline; when
you have come to realize the real province and true end of discipline; when you have completely learned the great
fundamental and universal principles of discipline which work toward this ideal end and finally when you have learned to
apply these principles to the dozens of concrete, typical cases with which you will always be confronted in the school-
room, then you will be in possession of knowledge that will not only cause you to be sought for by school authorities, to
teach in better schools at far better remuneration, but it will enable you to do infinitely more for boys and girls, thus making
life itself better for yourself and others.
“What we need more than better brain inheritance is a better and more scientific set of rules for developing the brains that
we have, and such rules of procedure should be made the common property of all who are in any way related to rearing
and educating children.”[2]

2. McKeever, Psychologic Method in Teaching, p. 329.

Confidence

Confidence, that basis of control which is necessary in dealing with a youth who
is physically too big to whip, is the best basis for dealing with a child or adult of
any age.—R. C. B.

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PART ONE

The Teacher

Someone has truthfully said, “Without a teacher there can be no school.” It is a university when a great teacher, like Mark
Hopkins, sits on a log with the lad, James A. Garfield, and pours forth his store of knowledge for the eager mind of the
backwoods boy. All other elements of a school may be absent, except the teacher, who as a living fountain of knowledge
interests the mind of the lad because he possesses those qualifications that are found in the true teacher. The vital factor of
the school—be it the humblest one room school; the best one room school; a village school or the many roomed high
school in the metropolis of the land—the vital and all-important factor is the teacher. The teacher is the inspiring force in
the school-room, bringing light and hope and accomplishing more by influence over the children than by any other means.

The Teacher as a Leader

The teacher must be a leader—a true leader—a leader in social ethics, in private morals, in character-building, in religion,
in fact in all that goes to make life worth while. This seems almost too much to demand of the teacher but it should be
expected nevertheless, for it is not exaggeration to say that the teacher’s work is the greatest of all tasks. His clay is God’s
chosen material. Every great work needs a controlling brain and a true heart and it is to be expected that God’s greatest
work needs them in a superlative degree. If they are absent, the school is like a dead body without the vital spark. If the
school is without the true and faithful teacher—even though all else be present, the best and most lasting results are
impossible. The cry of the hearts of the children is that they be instructed and nourished and, finally, sent into the world
fired with a zeal and purpose that will prompt them to the most heroic efforts in the world’s work.
It is the dream of every child to worship some hero, to be held spell-bound by some great life—a life that possesses some
traits that appeal to him. The teacher must be the hero; the teacher must embody these traits. The child upon finding such a
teacher will do his bidding gladly, will start on any mission at his request, and will be proud to serve the dictates of a
master-will—a will influenced by the Divine will. How many men and women will admit that all the good that is in them and
the usefulness they manifest, they owe to the example and teaching, or to the memory of some sainted teacher—a teacher
who consecrated himself to God, thereby finding his place and wielding his influence over child life for good.
Though the teacher’s task seems to be the most difficult, after all its importance makes it the greatest and best, and what
better or higher work is there than to help children and young men and women to a clearer vision of truth, to a nobler sense
of duty, to encourage and inspire to higher ideals and motives of life, that are bounded only by eternity? It is the teacher,
who at his best, stands between the child and the various experiences that await him. The teacher, from his larger store of
knowledge, directs the child towards, and introduces him to, those forms of experience which are especially adapted to
bring out and develop the element of perfect control.
Two teachers may use the same mechanism of methods—the one may fail and the other succeed. They may be using the
same system of marking and grading, rewarding, and reporting to parents, still the one fails while the other succeeds. Their
environments, too, may be the same. The failure of the one is to be sought in the teacher, so too, is the success of the
other. The vital need is the proper qualification of the teacher.
“The responsibility of the schoolmaster does not end when the boy leaves school any more than the responsibility of the
ship-builder ends on the day of the launch. Each is commissioned to construct a seaworthy vessel, competent to sail either
in calm or in stormy seas, and each neglects his duty if he is content merely to build up a fairly handsome structure which
will glide gracefully off the ways and keep afloat until the crowd has dispersed.”[3]

3. Welton and Blandford, Principles and Methods of Moral Training, p. 173. Warwick and York.

Purpose of Teaching

Perhaps, no more important question should the teacher ask himself than this, “Why am I teaching?” Is it because a brother
or sister or parent or friend has taught or is teaching, or because he must earn a livelihood to support himself or family, or
because he thinks he loves children, or enjoys instructing, or glories in power, or believes he has ability as a disciplinarian,
or considers the work of teaching easy, dignified and above reproach, or the day short, giving time for other pursuits; or is
it because he considers teaching a stepping stone to some other life profession, or, as is the case with too many women,
employment to tide over the period between graduation from the high school and matrimony; or that he feels he is capable
of no other work and is teaching because he believes himself small and fitted for doing a small work; or, does he believe
that there is in teaching an opportunity to accomplish great good and to be of valuable service to mankind? There may be
some other motive or motives that induce the teacher to undertake his work, but his should be the most worthy purpose.
No teacher can expect to do his fullest measure of service and gain that contentment and happiness, that come to the good
teacher, if his motive or motives for teaching are not the noblest and best. If any teacher takes up the profession of teaching
—the art of arts—his must be a true aim to be of service to mankind. No teacher can successfully control those under his
care and teaching, unless he believes that his work is the most vital. His heart and interest must be in his work; otherwise, it
is his duty to leave the teaching profession.

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Preparation

A requisite of the teacher that can not be overlooked is the ability to teach. It is an unmistakable preface to teaching to
have the proper desire to teach. It is to be hoped that the day is not far distant, when all teachers must have a normal
training of not less than one year, and that every Normal School be required to cultivate the natural qualities most essential
to teachers. Every student entering a Normal School should satisfy his instructors that he possesses superior ability in his
chosen profession. The Normal School should be required to recommend, without exception, to other fields of activity, all
those who after a sufficient time in the school do not promise to qualify as teachers of ability. One does himself great
injustice to enter a profession for which he is not by nature and by training qualified; and a far greater injury is done those
who come under his instruction if he is not a natural and trained teacher.

Scholarship

Without a doubt, a most important requisite of the teacher is good scholarship—a thorough knowledge of the subjects to
be taught. His knowledge must be not only thorough, but fresh. He, too, must be a broader student of the subjects he
teaches than one who merely knows the text he is using. It is evident that a teacher can not teach more than he knows, and
often the keen mind of a pupil leaves the realm of the text-book and legitimately inquires into the depths of knowledge. He
may embarrass the unprepared teacher, or the teacher whose knowledge of the subject is no broader than the text. The
teacher’s preparation must not be superficial, it must be like a fountain—ever fresh and flowing, connecting that which has
been passed over and that which is to come. This is an essential element of successful instruction, but many can not see
why it should influence discipline.
The teacher who is a deep and inexhaustible fountain of knowledge wins the confidence of his pupils, and whatever
increases confidence decreases the necessity of imposed discipline and control, and it is true that whatever decreases the
confidence of the pupils in the teacher increases the necessity for outer control. Confidence in the ability and preparation of
the teacher is the basis of ready obedience. It is the element that begets a prompt and cheerful yielding of the pupil’s will to
the will of the teacher.
The teacher should never cease to be a student. Though he thinks himself thoroughly educated, he should always go over
the material which he intends to teach; to this, he should add a wide range of reading outside of the lesson proper, but
bearing upon the lesson. In this way he will be able to give to his pupils more than is found in the lesson. The teacher who
unceasingly pursues such tactics in the preparation of his work will arouse interest in his classes and interest will secure
attention which in turn will produce diligence in study. It is a self-evident principle, that interest on the part of the teacher
will produce interest on the part of the pupil and interest will promote application and progress. Many a teacher who has
been otherwise weak in the ability to discipline properly, has easily controlled large classes by the interest he has
manifested in his work, because he was accurate and full in his instruction.

As a Student of Nature

Aside from the teacher’s thorough preparation and knowledge of the subjects he teaches, he must be well versed in other
matters. No teacher can fulfill the measure of his calling, unless he is a lover and student of Nature. This may be difficult for
the teacher within the confines of a large city. However, no city is so large, that all phenomena of Nature are shut out and
whatever means are at hand, should be used and thoroughly understood. Some tiny park, or well kept front yard, even a
stray bird, a sparrow, the rain, the clouds, and the snow flakes are Nature’s property, and where is the teacher who
should be unlearned in any of these subjects? For the teacher whose happy lot it is to teach in the rural districts or villages,
it would be a shame indeed, if he did not know the every pulse beat of Nature. Could there really be a teacher who could
not control a large band of boys and girls, if he were always ready to expound the secrets of the forest, of the seasons, of
the air, and put life and breath into all the vast out-of-doors and her varied phenomena?
It is almost a necessity that every teacher should have studied psychology in his preparation for teaching; still the author has
been in states where there are no laws concerning this requirement for teachers; there are scores of teachers who have not
even read one text in psychology.
Many have been the definitions given of psychology, but in the end they do not differ seriously. Since psychology is the
interpretation of human nature, the admission must be made that every teacher should have a clear knowledge of the
subject. Psychology will not produce a teacher, it is true, but teachers are compelled to study and to know human nature
and the laws governing it, so that common sense methods may be developed. The study of psychology is usually involved
in all discussion of methods. The teaching process involves the mind of the child and it is reasonable to demand that the
teacher should know the main outlines of modern psychology.
Without further argument, it is apparent that a clear and comprehensive knowledge of psychology is necessary for the
teacher. Not alone should the teacher have an understanding knowledge of psychology, but he should read some good
texts on psychology and its allied branches every year.

Child Study

No teacher, then, should consider himself educated or prepared to teach who has not given himself some preparation
through child study, this greatest of all school subjects, which is simply genetic psychology practically applied. This subject
is new, and at best, the teacher who has carefully studied it will know too little. Still there is no excuse for the teacher who

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does not know something about the following phases of the psychology of children: the child’s soul or mind, acting as
memory, imagination and reason; the chief facts concerning the child’s affections, ambitions, motives and ideals;
adolescence—physical, mental and moral phases; relations to other children and elders; his sense of humor and
responsibility; his moral obligations; his views concerning himself, society, and the local community; his views of Nature;
the principles of child growth; the normal height and weight of children; the common defects of children as weak eyes,
defective hearing, adenoids, spinal curvature and other ailments that attack childhood; the child’s likes and dislikes and all
the activities that most interest him.
No sensible teacher will undertake to teach the child a new subject until he understands just what the child can do. Then it
is an evident conclusion that the process of teaching can be elevated above the plane of a haphazard undertaking to that of
a systematic science by the teacher who has studied the child in his manifold complexities. It follows then that a teacher’s
preparation at its best is not complete until he has a workable knowledge of child psychology.

Reading

The teacher’s preparation is not complete without the reading of good books. Every true teacher is a student, and to make
it possible to remain a student he can not neglect reading good books. Reading the best books in every field of the
teacher’s work, and even in many other fields for the purpose of gaining new knowledge is a requirement of the teacher
that should not be overlooked. In reading for pleasure and recreation, care must be exercised in choosing reading material.
Only the best should be selected by the teacher and that which will give the most aid to his work.
The teacher must be a careful reader; he should not hasten through a book, just to be reading. Important passages should
be marked. Whatever is of use to the teacher should be correlated to his work to add more to the subject taught. The
author in all his reading, even in fiction, has made use of this method—marking all important passages and quotations as he
read; then, in the back of the book, he constructed a list of pages where each passage or quotation was to be found.
Following the number of the page in his index, he put a brief note, or sometimes only a word to explain the nature of the
passage. To illustrate: quotations or passages of general interest were marked (general); a passage bearing upon history,
marked (history), etc. When he sought some thought or passage upon a certain subject, it was easy to look to the
“homemade” index of the books read and hastily locate such information.

Reading for a Purpose

To the teacher books are companions. He should go to them in time of need. They will give assistance. For recreation they
will afford rest, and for information they will prove a never-ending source. Every book the teacher reads, should be read
for a purpose. It is a good plan to discuss a book read with a friend or one who has read it and is interested in the line of
thought treated. Fiction usually portrays some strong character types, as well as weak character types; these make
excellent themes for talks on moods and kindred issues. The wise teacher is always ready to cite some good character
study or tell some interesting tale or anecdote bearing upon the subject being studied and taught. When interest lags on a
dreary day, or when the entire school seems to have the “blues”—and every teacher knows that there are such times—he
can save the situation and avoid embarrassment by narrating some interesting story. Fiction abounds in character
portrayals, anecdotes and stories. These can be marked and indexed as to kind as explained above.
The question as to what kind of books a teacher should read may arise. There can be no harm in reading every type of
book—books that bear upon every phase of life. However meager a teacher’s income may be or uncertain the place of his
abode, he should have a library. The word library does not mean that he must have a hundred or more books. How many
great men have had only a Bible, Pilgrim’s Progress, and perhaps a book or two of poems, and yet owned a library far
more valuable than is often possessed by the indiscriminate booklover! A few books well read are better than many
unread.
It may be well to add this precaution. There are scores of good books bearing upon method, pedagogy and various
phases of the teacher’s work. Books written for the teacher are intended to inform, and not to give exact directions for
every activity of the teacher. There can be no such book as the latter. It is true, every school bears the same aspects, and
fundamental principles underlie the teaching process, but “cut and dried” rules and formulæ can work only for artificial
ends. A good book seeks to suggest, and the wise teacher improves every suggestion.

Papers and Magazines

In addition to the reading of good books the teacher should read several good papers and magazines. Here the greatest
caution is necessary. This is an age of every kind of journalism, much of it really dangerous, and frequently the most
appealing paper or magazine may prove to be the most harmful. It is a safe rule to read those papers and magazines that
have been proven worthy by time and use. One good daily is sufficient; in its pages the teacher can scan the activities of the
world. This need not take much time. A few minutes each day will be ample. A teacher should avoid sensational murder
“writeups,” robberies and articles designed to create curiosity rather than to give facts and information. However, the tried
and conservative daily avoids glaring headlines, announcing atrocities of every kind.
What the teacher should know, is what the world is doing in commerce, industry, science, invention, legislation, discovery,
religion, arts, manufacturing and those great events which shape history. The teacher who reads papers and magazines for
the above purpose will be abreast of the times. He should read one good teacher’s paper. There should be no trouble
experienced in finding one as there are numerous excellent magazines published. Yet, care must be exercised, for many

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teacher’s papers and magazines are nothing less than trash. The editors, like so many business men, hope to reap a harvest
of money instead of following the motive of service to their fellow men. A good magazine can not be omitted from the
teacher’s reading. While it is true, that much which appears is written only for the remuneration; that is, each issue must be
filled and almost anything will do, and many of the stories appeal only to a class of people who will read only the very
poorest of literature; still, the teacher need not despair in his choice. He must read that journal the reputation of which has
been established and the pages of which are edited by live men and women who are discussing live issues.
In concluding the discussion on the teacher’s preparation, it is obvious from what has been said, that the teacher must
always remain a student. He must read to learn; he must investigate to know; he must delve into Nature to learn, and it is
not at all absurd for him to study again those books which he faithfully studied during his Normal School training.

The Teacher’s Morals

It seems almost unnecessary to say that a teacher should be moral. It is an important requisite. Although the teacher’s
choice of his profession, his ability to teach and his preparation have been discussed first, the reader may consider the
teacher’s morality the first requisite. The author can not conceive of a successful teacher, who would possess every
essential quality except the quality of being moral. It is a foregone conclusion that a teacher is supposed to be a moral
person. While this is true, sad to say there yet remain many teachers whose notions of a moral code are crude. They
violate some of the smallest details of the moral code and thereby undermine their success, to say nothing about lessening
the service they are attempting to render to mankind. It is not too radical to say that a teacher, above all other professional
people must be moral. His idea of a moral code must not be vague; it must not contain conflicting ideas. He, above all,
must have definite notions concerning morals. It is true that the term is too generally misused. Many teachers attempt to
teach morals in such a way that the pupils have altogether a wrong idea of ethics and consequently, in their daily lives are
doing many things that are immoral, still believing that they are shunning that which is not right.
It is the purpose of the following discussion to set the teacher right on what the term “moral” in its strictest sense includes;
and what constitutes a breach of morality will be clearly set forth. For many years educators have been examining the
moral requisites in a teacher, and there can be no doubt as to the correctness of these ideas. No attempt will be made to
generalize, but specific and concrete ideas will be presented. In other words, what is immoral will be discussed in such
plain terms that the...